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From: ptomblin@canoe.com (Paul Tomblin)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Flaps on active
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 1995 01:23:23 GMT

Here is what Flying Magazine has to say about the UL that taxiing with flaps down means that you are being hijacked and request armed intervention:

"We've heard that too, but because airlines keep their hijacking procedures confidential we are unable to confirm that landing flaps during taxi mean you have been hijakced instead of being slow on the checklist."

BTW: You indicate a hijacking in the air by turning your transponder(*) to 7500, or by saying "Squawk seven-five-zero-zero" on the air. In either case, the ATC you are talking to will say "<callsign> confirm squawking 7500". If you confirm, or don't negate, that's taken as a sign that you are being hijacked.

(* A transponder is a device that responds to a secondary radar that interogates it, and returns a 4 octal digit code that Air Traffic Control will use to identify you. A Mode C (Altitude Encoding) transponder will also respond with your altitude. If you are flying IFR (Instrument Flight Rules), or VFR (Visual Flight Rules) while in a control zone, you will be assigned a "squawk code". If you are flying VFR and not in a control zone, you squawk 1200.)

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Date: Sun, 12 May 96 16:20:28 +0400
From: John Varela <jav@os2bbs.com>

[John Varela had previously said:]
>> Pilot signals hijack thru transponder: yes. Air traffic control automation
>> systems recognize three special codes: 7500 hijack, 7600 radio failure, 7700
>> emergency. I imagine this is in the Airman's Information Manual (AIM), an FAA
>> publication. Paul Tomblin probably has a copy.

Further to this topic, I found this on Avweb (http://www.avweb.com/) for May 7:

Don't Squawk 7500 Unless You Mean It

Ever wonder what would really happen if you squawked 7500, the transponder code for an aircraft being hijacked? A pilot fooling around with a broken radio found out last week when he landed his aircraft in a rural Alabama and was immediately surrounded by 15 to 20 officers and at least one FBI agent.

Retired Army Col. Don Mynard Mynard, of Prescott, Ariizona, had inadvertently set his transponder to 7500 on a business flight from Texas to southeast Alabama. Because Mynard's radio didn't work, controllers couldn't ask him to ask why the signal was being sent. FAA officials contacted police and the FBI sent an agent to the rural airport about 80 miles south of Montgomery.

Understandably, Mynard was shaken by the incident, having been held at gunpoint and being hauled off for questioning before officials realized it was all a mistake. A cop posing as an airport employee marshaled the plane into the ramp and a swarm of reporters and police where kept out of sight until Mynard walked into the terminal.